Rangers legend Slim Jim Baxter would have been a crack shot in the army too, says his former Major

00:01, 13 Sep 2015

ByGeorge Mair

BAXTER served two years in the Black Watch from 1961, and Major Colin Innes revealed the Scotland legend was a good shot with a rifle and a machine gun.

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Baxter in his days playing for Rangers

JIM BAXTER would have been a brilliant soldier, according to the training officer who was in charge of the footballer during his national service.

The Scotland legend served two years in the Black Watch from 1961, despite being a household name playing for Rangers.

And Major Colin Innes has revealed Slim Jim was as good a shot with a rifle or a machine gun as he was with a football.

He insisted Baxter would have made sergeant major had he stuck with the military – a move he claims could have saved his life.

Major Innes said: “Jim Baxter joined us as a private soldier for national service. He was an extremely smart chap during his basic training.

“He was an extremely good shot with a rifle and a machine gun, and was very fit, as you might imagine, over any obstacle course or running down the ranges.

“Jim was also a charming chap who the other boys liked. They admired him because he was doing his other job playing football as well as his national service.

“When he left, we were very sorry to lose him. He’d have made a very good regular soldier.”

Major Innes, 79, who trained the footballer at Perth Barracks and later at Stirling Castle, also revealed Baxter was supposed to have been posted to Germany during the Cold War.

The 1st Battalion of the Black Watch were based for two-and-a-half years in Berlin – a city that was divided first by barbed wire and then the infamous wall.

It was only after Rangers manager Scot Symon, who had signed Baxter from Raith Rovers for a then Scottish record fee of £17,500, pled to keep his star player in Scotland that he was allowed to stay.

Louis Flood

Baxter training at Perth barracks

Major Innes recalled: “He had completed about four or five weeks and we then had a visit from Scot Symon, who was in charge of the Rangers team.

“I went over to the guard room and he said to me, ‘Look here, I don’t know who’s training Jim Baxter but you can’t send him abroad. Is there anything you can do to stop him serving in Berlin?’

“I knew all about Jim. He’d already played several matches for Rangers – we’d get a call two days before each game to say, ‘Can we have him?’

“We went to see the adjutant, a Captain Adam Gurdon, in the orderly room at the depot in Queens Barracks in Perth.

“It was quite clear that Scot Symon was desperate to keep Jim in the country as it would be too difficult to get him back from Berlin all the time. He was their best player and record transfer.

“So myself and the adjutant decided in Jim’s case there was a very good reason for keeping him back throughout his national service.

“That’s why he served in Scotland for the whole of his national service, because he was playing for Rangers and Scotland at the time.”

Major Innes added: “Jim would’ve been a private soldier had he gone out, but he would very quickly have been made a lance corporal, because he was outstanding.

“ He could’ve gone to Berlin at any time and taken up his place with our 1st Battalion. He would’ve walked the shooting and physical fitness tests. His drill was also very smart. He was well up to standard.

“But the only conflict he saw was against other football teams, which he was very good at.”

Baxter served his time in the orderly room of the depot, helping to look after the barracks and making sure that everything was clean, tidy and polished.

Major Innes added: “The orderly room was quite a good place to put him.

“The orderly room colour sergeant would’ve sent him on messages and he would’ve made a lot of tea. But if he could find a football, he would be dribbling up and down the barracks, and then he’d go out on to the pitch and practise.”

PA

Jim Baxter is hugged by ecstatic fans after he terrorised the 1966 World Cup winning England side

Baxter also played football for the depot team, although they were careful not to injure one of Scotland’s great talents.

Major Innes recalled: “He certainly played, but we had to be careful.

“The quartermaster, Major Nobby Clark – who was quite a character – ran the team but he had to be careful with Baxter because if he was tackled, he might be off games for several weeks.”

Major Innes also believes choosing the Army might have saved Baxter from the addictions that later blighted his life. But he admitted it would have deprived the world of his football skills.

Baxter was a star for Rangers and Scotland but his career declined sharply as his lavish lifestyle impacted his performances on the pitch.

He had two liver transplants before succumbing to cancer aged just 61.

Major Innes said: “We were all very sad. He showed great promise as a soldier, he really did.

“If he’d chosen the Army, it would’ve helped him. He was the sort of chap who might’ve been a sergeant major if he’d stayed on.

“He would’ve been very well disciplined and wouldn’t have drank so much. It might’ve saved his life.

“He was an outstanding recruit. It was so good to find someone who was quite famous but who got stuck into national service and enjoyed doing his training.

“Some others felt, ‘Oh hell, I’ve got two years’, but I think Jim Baxter really did enjoy his national service.”

Then take a trip down memory lane with these rare and unseen pictures of Scottish football in the gallery below.